Volunteer

What Our Volunteers Help With

Education

Volunteers in this program will teach English to children ages 3-9. Strong Hearts Academy was founded because the public school system does not provide adequate education and private school is often not affordable, so we aim to provide the resources children need to become self-sustaining in our community.

Hospice

Our hospice program is the only one of its kind in the area, serving Kore’s high population of women with one or more of the following: HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and cancer. Strong Hearts Hospice Program is designed to provide palliative care to local low-income members of the community through physical, spiritual, and emotional support. Volunteers will be led by Strong Hearts nurses to assist with home visits.

Micro-finance

This program is designed to help low income members of the community start their own business to become self-sufficient earning income. Strong Hearts lends money as capital for supplies and equipment, as well as provide mentoring and business advice. A volunteer in this program may have interests in research, community development through sustainability of a regular income, or giving advice on how to improve our clients’ businesses.

Day Care Center

Anyone interested in working with infants to age three year olds would enjoy this program. Infants and young children are able to come to our program so that single mothers have the opportunity to search for a job and work once they find one. The daily activities of a volunteer in this area could include playing with the kids, reading, feeding, and assisting with naptime. People with medical experience may also be interested in this program.

Food and Accommodations

Each volunteer will stay at a guesthouse, located within walking distance to all volunteer programs. The guesthouse consists of five bedrooms, with three single rooms, and two large beds for couples to share. Volunteers should be prepared to share a room; however Strong Hearts will try their best to accommodate everyone if a volunteer wants a single room. The guesthouse has a living room, a dining room, and a single bathroom. The bathroom has a working toilet and shower with hot water.

Strong Hearts will prepare Simple breakfast & Dinner a day for the volunteers. Often volunteers will start the day with bread and jam, cereal, or fresh local fruit. dinner are usually traditional Ethiopian food, in which the volunteer can enjoy injera, shiro, rice, and a variety of vegetables. Some Ethiopian food is spicy, and there is a lot of meat, so if a volunteer has any special dietary requirements, Strong Hearts will accommodate them. Addis Ababa has many great restaurants, so if volunteers would like to go out and try something different it is always an option. Meals can range anywhere from $4 – $15 at a restaurant.

What to Expect Day to Day

Volunteers will work Monday through Friday, and will have weekends off. The day starts at 9:00 am, and at noon volunteers can come back to the house for lunch. Volunteers will go back to their program at 2:00 pm and will be done around 4:00 pm. There is an after-school program at 5:00 pm with local kids in the neighborhood who are ages 9 to 16, and all volunteers from any program are welcome to help out! Strong Hearts welcomes any volunteer to try out as many of the programs they offer during your stay, so you can make your own schedule while you are here. There are opportunities on weekends for volunteers to experience Addis Ababa, and Strong Hearts will even help set up travel itineraries for those who want to travel around Ethiopia.

Our Pricing

To reserve your place in our programs and guesthouse, we require a $50 down payment. The down payment is separate from the program fee below.